Apollo and Daphne
by 2Wolves
Summary: Nico is out with Frank and Hazel, talking about the myth of Daphne's tree. soon they discover there is much more to this story then they could have realized. i wrote this for my friends bday- happy bday K. K (slight Frank and Hazel, if you squint) I don't own Percy Jackson ( realize there's a lot of grammar errors in this, please forgive me! :(
1. Chapter 1

**This is a story i wrote for my friend's birthday- K. K (her initials) hope you guys enjoy it to!**

Nico walked along with his sister and Frank. It was Hazel's birthday, so Nico and Frank were treating her to a day away from camp. Frank and Hazel were talking happily, while they ate ice-cream.

Hazel laughed at a joke that Frank said. But Nico could tell that Hazel's mind was elsewhere. "What's up Hazel?" Nico asked.

Hazel just shook her head. "I was just thinking about the story you told me about earlier."

"Oh yeah, the one about Apollo and Daphne?"

Frank frowned. "I don't know that story."

Nico looked at him. "Don't you know the story? It's a pretty well known story." He shook his head. Nico sighed continuing his walk. "I'm not too clear on the details, but apparently Daphne was a river nymph, the daughter of Peneus, the god of some river, or something. Apparently she was supposed to be really pretty, and people came from faraway places to ask for her hand, but she refused everyone. Apparently Apollo had also fallen for the girl, but she refused him as well."

"Woah, turned down by a girl?" Frank asked. "That has to be a first for the sun god."

Nico nodded. "I talked to an elder Nymph one time about it. She thought that he was genuinely in love with Daphne, and he stayed with her for days afterwards."

"Aww!" Hazel cooed.

Frank gave Hazel a weird look. "I'll never understand girl's obsession with weird couples." Hazel hit him on the back of the head.

Nico ignored the interruption and continued. "Apparently, when she was starting to warm up to him just a little, Eros shot her with an arrow."

"Eros, you mean the little cupid guy?" Frank asked. Nico ignored the cupid remark. "But I thought his arrows were a good thing."

"They're supposed to be, but he and Apollo were not on good terms, and they often did what they could to get in the others way." Nico continued with the story. "Eros shot Daphne with an arrow that made it so that she could never love someone."

Hazel frowned. "Isn't it awful!" she said, turning to Frank.

"I don't see the big deal." Frank said. Hazel hit him again.

"Apollo still kept coming to see her. That angered Daphne, and she tried to send him away, but he wouldn't leave her. Eventually she started to run away from him, but he would always chase her. Eventually she got so desperate, she prayed to her father to protect her. Her father turned her into a laurel tree. If you ever meet Apollo, he's always wearing a laurel wreath on him, so he always has a piece of her with her." There was silence for a moment, as the two of them looked at Nico. He just shrugged. "Or at least that's how the story goes.

Frank laughed. "So the girl asked for help, and her father turns her into a tree? Talk about overprotective parenting!" Frank stood up, and spoke in a deep voice. "There's someone in love with my daughter? Unacceptable! She must be turned into a tree, that way she will never be able to date!" Frank started laughing.

Hazel hit him on the head. "Frank, that's so mean! That's such a sad story! Apollo was in love with her."

Frank rolled his eyes. "It's Apollo we're talking about here. He probably only chased her cause she was prettier than the average girl."

Hazel frowned at him. "But even to this day he's always wearing a laurel wreath to remind himself of her."

"I personally find that creepy don't you? That would be like going up to you, and saying, 'hey Hazel, why don't you carry around my arm for the rest of your life?' oh yeah, that'd make Aphrodite proud of me."

"Why would it be the same with you and me?" Hazel asked. It suddenly got very quiet for a few moments.

Nico cleared his throat. "Um, I heard that Apollo used to keep the tree, err, Daphne, in Olympus."

"Used to?" Frank asked eager to change the subject. "What do you mean used to?"

"Apparently, sometime during the medieval ages, the tree went missing. Apollo covered the world trying to find her, but with no luck."

"Wouldn't the first place he looked be with Eros?" Frank asked.

Nico shrugged. "They couldn't find her there either. Eventually Apollo stopped looking. Now people say he is using other girls as a distraction, so he can forget about her."

Hazel frowned. "It's depressing."

Nico shrugged. "It upset quite a few gods. Diana, Apollo's sister, used to go hunting with her a lot, and my step mother and she also did a lot of gardening together. They were all upset when she went missing."

The three went silent, until Frank broke the silence. "Well great job Nico! You totally put a damper on the mood!"

_Nico shrugged. "Sorry." _

Frank looked at Hazel, who had a depressed frown on her face. "Hey, I saw flower shop a ways back, why don't we get some? They might help you feel better." Hazel looked at him. "Alright I guess." The three walked to the shop. Hazel looked a bit better, looking at the flowers out front of the shop. Suddenly, Nico froze in his spot.

"Nico? Nico what's wrong?" Hazel asked.

Nico raised a hand to silence her. He was listening intently. "Get inside, now."

"Huh?" Frank asked, but Nico shoved both of them inside the store. Immediately a limo drove up to where they were standing. Out of it came a girl, whom Frank immediately recognized.

"The goddess Diana?" Frank sputtered.

"Artemis." Nico agreed.

"But what is she doing here?" Hazel asked. "And I thought she traveled with the hunters!" Diana started walking towards the store. Nico glanced to the side, and shoved the three behind some large hedges on display. Diana walked into the store, looking around.

An employee walked up to her. "Hello ma'am may I help you?"

Diana looked at her. "I'm looking for a friend who works here; she looks about seventeen with red hair."

The employee nodded, "aw I know her, wait right here." She turned and walked towards the back of the store. The three demigods glanced at each other. Who would Diana be looking for?

A girl came in from the back of the room, the three of them looking at her in shock. She was drop dead gorgeous. She had scarlet red hair tied in a braid down her back. She wore a casual red top with white flower patterns on it. She wore white jean shorts that went down past her knees. Her eyes were startling green, and her face was pale, almost white. She grinned at Diana.

"Diana! It has been to long!" she ran up to her and hugged her. The demigods were shocked that someone addressed the goddess so familiarly.

Diana hugged her back. "You as well."

The two went on talking. Hazel looked at Nico, a sparkle in her eye. "Uh oh." Nico said. "What are you thinking?"

"Didn't the legend say Diana and Daphne were friends?" Nico nodded. "And that Daphne liked flowers, and that she was incredibly beautiful?" it took Nico a second to connect the dots.

"Wait, you don't think." Nico started.

"Daphne!" the three looked up, as the girl with Diana turned towards the voice.

"Yes sir?" Daphne called.

"If you're going to take your lunch break, leave your nametag here!" Daphne called back in agreement. She left for a moment, to return her nametag. The three demigods all looked at each other.

"That can't be a coincidence." Frank said. The others nodded in agreement. Just then, they heard some thunder, they're little group shivered. Diana and Daphne turned to the door, Diana's face in shock, Daphne's face full of terror. Diana turned to Daphne, and shoved her to the back of the store, so she was behind the counter, where she hid.

Outside, lightening struck the ground, and the door opened. Two men came in, Frank didn't recognize them, but Nico did.

"Aw crap." Nico gritted his teeth.

Frank looked at him in confusion. "What's wrong? You know them?" Frank asked.

Nico frowned. "We've met. And I'm pretty sure they're here for me." Hazel gave him a look. Nico sighed. "The taller one is Apollo, the shorter one is Eros." Hazel's eyes widened.

"Nico Di Angelo!" Apollo yelled. He had loon auburn hair, his bangs falling down to his eyes. He wore a wimple orange Muscle shirt, and blue jeans. Eros looked different, his hair the same length, a light blond, wearing a dress suit. "Di Angelo we know your here!" Apollo asked.

Hazel turned to Nico. "What the heck did you do?" she asked franticly.

Nico frowned. "I made a stupid mistake, and helped out some friends with some pranks. Some kids of Hermes, err, Mercury. I stole some of Eros' arrows, and I helped spray paint Apollo's chariot." Hazel and Frank starred at him as if he had lost his mind. "I have some weird friends, ok?"

Just then, Eros seemed to notice Diana. "Diana?" Eros asked.

Apollo also looked at her. "Sis? What are you doing in a place like this?"

Diana swallowed. "I uh. I could ask you the same thing."

"We," Eros said, "are looking for this boy." Just then, Eros threw away the bushes in front of the demigods, revealing them in plain sight.

Hazel gulped. "Um, hi."

"Ok look." Nico said. "All that stuff that happened, that was the Stoll's fault, you can blame them ok?"

Apollo glared at him. "You're lucky that I'm a curious man." He turned to Diana. "So you know why we're here, why are you?"

Diana looked at the demigods. Hazel could tell from the look on her face. _Say anything and I will destroy each and every one of you._ "Can't I go to a flower shop?"

Frank, being his regular naive self, spoke up. "She's here to see a friend." All eyes in the room turned to glare at Frank. "What?" he asked.

Hazel sighed. "Forgive him," she said to Diana. "He's an innocent soul."

Apollo ignored her. "Oh, here to meet a friend? Well where is she? Can't you introduce her to your older brother?" Apollo studied his sister's face. "So she's behind the desk?" Apollo walked past his sister,

"Brother I must protest!" Apollo reached over the desk and grabbed Daphne by the arm jerking her up. As soon as Apollo saw her, he froze, his arm clutched around her arm. Eros also froze, staring at her as if he was seeing light for the first time in years.

"Apollo." Daphne said, she was shivering a bit in his grasp. "Um, hi."

Apollo stared at her, his mouth gaping wide, unsure of what to say. "Daphne." The way he said her name; sounded like a pirate who had found more money than anyone had ever laid eyes on.

Eros grabbed Diana's hand in rage. "You knew?"

Diana looked at him with an angry glare. Apollo acted like he forgot they were still there, his eyes not leaving Daphne. "You're back." His face smiled, "it, it's been so long."

Daphne, didn't look so happy, her eyes was tearing up. "Stop, Apollo, just, just stop."

Apollo tried to protest, but Daphne broke free of his grasp, and ran out the side door. "Daphne!" he yelled after her, but she didn't listen, and just kept running. Apollo turned to Nico in rage. "If you want to prove yourself innocent, go and get her back."

Nico jumped in surprise. "Um, yeah, sure man." Nico got up, and started running after Daphne.

"No wait!" Diana protested. She followed after him.

"Wait!" Hazel chased after Diana. Frank just stood there awkwardly, with Apollo and Eros still there.

"So." Frank said looking at the two of them. "How's your day going?"


	2. Chapter 2

Nico finally caught up with Daphne, she was sitting in the park, clutching her knees to her face, tears slipping down her face slowly.

"Hi." Daphne looked up started. Seeing recognition in her eyes, she turned away from him. Nico sat down next to her. "Look, I'm sorry, me and my friends, we didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"It's ok." She said, sniffling. "I don't blame you. It's not your fault."

Nico nodded. "I have to ask. Are you 'the' Daphne? The one that was turned into a tree?" She nodded. "So, how did you, um."

"Turn back into a human?" Daphne asked. Nico nodded. "Diana turned me back, long ago. She brought me to the flower shop, and I've been working there ever since. I haven't aged, though I assume that has something to do with being a nymph."

Nico nodded. "So, what was it that happened back there?" Nico asked. "I thought you would have wanted to see Apollo again."

Daphne smiled at him. "You're still young, you wouldn't understand."

"I'm a lot older than I look. Try me." Nico said, smiling.

"Daphne doesn't want to see Apollo." Diana said. Hazel had caught up to her finally, and they were sitting at a coffee shop.

Hazel looked at Diana. "Why not? I thought they were in love."

Diana sighed. "The story you mortals told does not quite have all the details to the story." Diana took a sip of her coffee. "I was the one who introduced Apollo and Daphne. I was going on a hunting trip, and I invited Apollo to join me."

"_So where are you taking me sis!" Apollo asked his sister. "_

"_Don't worry it'll be fun!" Diana said, turning to her brother with a smile. Soon, Diana came to a group of hunters getting ready. They were all mortals, and some nymphs and demigods as well. Just then Daphne came over. She was dressed differently than the other girls, her clothes looking more like that of a boys. She smiled seeing Diana._

"_Diana!" she said, running over to where she was standing. The two hugged each other. After letting go, Daphne turned to Apollo. "Who's this?"_

_Diana opened her mouth to answer but Apollo beat her to it. "Apollo." He said. He grabbed Daphne's hand, and kissed it gently, his eyes not leaving her face. "Diana's sister. And you are?"_

_Daphne frowned, shaking away Apollo's hand. "Daphne."_

"_Daphne?"Apollo smiled. "What a beautiful name."_

_Daphne smiled. Diana rolled her eyes. "Oh geez, go do you flirting with someone else brother." She turned and walked away from the two, who were both blushing red. _

"Things were good at first." Diana told Hazel, sipping her coffee. "I thought it was strange, how Apollo went to every single hunting trip with me. He really was starting to love her, which shocked all of the Olympians. Apollo, in love? It was unheard of. Venus was ecstatic." Diana smiled, remembering the past. Then a frown played on her lips. "Things were going so well for them. Zeus really liked her, along with all the gods. Apollo even told me he wanted to propose to her."

Hazel chocked a little hearing that. "Are you serious?" she asked.

Diana grinned at her. "But then something went wrong."

"Wrong?" Hazel asked. "What went wrong?"

"What went wrong is that, I fell in love with Daphne." Eros told Frank. Apollo was standing at the other side of the shop, his eyes staring out the window, unmoving.

Frank starred at Eros. "Say what?"

Eros nodded. "I met Daphne one time Apollo brought her to Olympus. Needless to say, she was beautiful; I had never seen someone like her before. She was always in the gardens, even though her face was more beautiful than any of the others. She loved hunting."

"But she didn't know how to use a bow and arrow." Apollo interrupted. Eros nodded.

_Apollo stood behind Daphne, as she struggled to put the arrows on the bow. "Keep going, you're doing fine!" Apollo encouraged._

"_It's annoying! It's not as easy as using a spear!" she complained. _

_Apollo laughed. "I'll be right back; I'm going to get you a child's bow."_

"_I don't need a child's bow!" Daphne protested, her face flushed. Apollo laughed. He kissed her on the cheek, then turned and walked away. _

_Daphne smiled, then turned to pick up some of the arrows. "You don't need to do that." Daphne looked up surprised. Eros was standing a little ways away, watching her with interest._

_She smiled at him. "Master Eros, I'm sorry I didn't see you there." _

_Eros smiled. "You know you could be good with a bow. You don't have the best teacher though."_

"_Oh and you can do better?" Daphne asked. Eros smiled. He walked over to her, and put his arms around her, putting one hand on hers, guiding them along the bow. He helped moved her hands, and shot the arrow. It struck straight on the target. She laughed happily! "Hey I did it!" she said smiling. She turned to Eros grinning, moving out of his grasp. "Thank you! I didn't know you were such a good shot!"_

_Eros smiled. "It wasn't all me, you did most of it." Daphne smiled. Eros was silent before asking his next question. "Why do you like him?" _

_Daphne looked up. "Huh?"_

"_Apollo. You must know the kind of person he is, why would you like him"_

_Daphne looked at the ground. "Why would you ask me that?"_

_Eros was silent. "Don't you think you could be happier with me?" _

_Daphne looked at him with shock. She took a deep breath. "Eros, I'm sorry, but I love Apollo." Without another word, she turned and left. _

"Of course I was mad." Eros said. He wasn't even looking at Frank now, he was studying Apollo intently, who stood frozen, his face emotionless. "So, I guess I acted out of anger."

Frank frowned. "You shot her with the arrow."

Eros nodded. "If I couldn't have her, no one else could. I shot her with an arrow, so that she would never be able to love anyone."

"I wasn't able to tell what happened." Daphne said. Nico sat quietly, he was a good listener. "All I knew is for some reason, I couldn't feel anything. When I saw Apollo, I couldn't understand what I had felt before." Daphne sniffed away another tear.

"_Daphne!" Apollo cried! Daphne looked up in surprise, dropping the spear she was about the throw. She scowled_

"_Gosh, what the heck? You just let the dear get away!" Daphne complained. _

_Apollo walked up to her. "Daphne, what's going on? I haven't seen you in weeks; you're not answering my Iris messages." Apollo looked at her sadly. "What did I do? What did I do wrong?"_

_Daphne had had enough. "That's enough! I'm tired of this!" Apollo looked at her shocked. "This has been going on for too long. You've been coming to my house, every day, all you're protesting, isn't it enough? I don't know what I ever saw in you and I'm tired of this! I'm tired of you following me everywhere, always help me up every time I fall always being there every time I turn around, I'm tired of it! Why can't you just leave me alone, go back to Olympus, or anywhere! I don't care where, just go! Leave me alone!" Daphne breathed deeply, feeling good after letting go of all her steam. _

_Apollo stared at her, and Daphne could see the hurt in his eyes. It looked like his heart, no, his very existence had been destroyed. He straightened. "I can't do that. I don't know what I did, to make you stop loving me Daphne. But I still love you, and I don't want to lose you." Without another word he turned and left. _

_Diana walked over to Daphne. "How could you do that?" Diana scowled. "That was my brother." Daphne didn't say anything. "Daphne, why are you crying?"_

_Daphne blinked surprised, feeling the single tear falling down her face. "I don't know."_

"Daphne was upset." Diana told Hazel. "She didn't know why she stopped loving Apollo; all she knew is that she didn't want to see him sad anymore." Diana frowned. "Hey can I get another coffee over here?" she called to the waiter. After she got her coffee, she continued with her story. "So me and Daphne made a plan. Daphne didn't care how long it took, just so that maybe Apollo could get over her."

"So you turned her into a tree." Hazel noted.

Diana nodded. "Unfortunately, it didn't work exactly like we expected. Brother never got over Daphne. Now he tries to use other girls to help him forget, but, all of Olympus knows that he has always missed Daphne. That's why we don't usually comment on his actions anymore."

Hazel nodded. "So, you turned Daphne back."

Diana nodded. "Enough time had passed, I felt like Apollo had stopped. So I released Daphne from the spell, and placed her in the at the flower shop. I've moved her time and time, so people don't notice that she doesn't age. It was the only way." There was silence, Hazel not sure what she should say. Diana smiled. "I should go back to the shop. I'm sure my brother needs an explanation."

Hazel nodded. "And I should make sure Frank hasn't messed up in some way or another."

Diana smiled. "Aww young demigods. So cute." Hazel looked at her confused, but didn't say anything. The two of them walked back to the shop. Eros and Frank sat near the front of the shop, sitting on chairs talking. Apollo was at the other side of the store, looking like a statue. Frank and Eros both got up as they entered the store. Frank walked over to Hazel's side.

"Did you hear the story?" Frank asked. Hazel nodded.

Eros walked over to Diana. "How's he doing?" Diana asked.

Eros shook his head. "Not good."

"You knew." Apollo spoke, everyone going silent. "You know that she was back, and you didn't tell me?" Apollo's voice was dangerously calm.

Diana was silent. "She didn't walk to talk to you." Apollo turned to her, his eyes were red, one tear staining his cheek.

He walked over to Diana, and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. "How could you? You, my sister!"

"Stop! Don't blame here!" all head snapped towards the side door, where Daphne had just entered. Her eyes were red from crying though; a lot more tears were visible on her face. "It, it wasn't her fault. She wanted to tell you but I asked her not to." Apollo dropped Diana. Nico walked in behind Daphne.

Frank turned to him. "What happened?"

Nico spoke loudly so everyone could hear him. "I took one of the arrows that I, err, borrowed from Eros. I was able to break Eros' old spell on Daphne."

Hazel starred at him. "So Daphne can, feel again?" she asked. Nico nodded.

Daphne looked at Apollo, her eyes sad, but she tried to smile. "Do, do you want to sit down, and talk? There's a, a Starbucks a block away." Apollo just starred at her, nodding wordlessly. Daphne smiled shyly and led the way.

Daphne and Apollo sat across from each other at a small table, Daphne drinking a caramel latte supreme, Apollo, just drinking some straight coffee. The rest of the group sat a few tables away watching them. Diana was sick of coffee by this point, so she didn't drink anything.

"They still aren't talking." Hazel noted. "Shouldn't they be talking?"

Frank turned to Eros. "Hey, why aren't you upset with this?"

Eros looked at Frank. "I did love Daphne then, but that was a long time ago. My feelings didn't compare to Apollo's." Frank nodded.

Daphne tried to speak, but each time Apollo also tried to speak, then they both shut up. No progress was happening; all that was happening was a really awkward silence.

To everyone surprise, Nico stood up. "This is getting annoying." He stood up and walked over to the two, despite everyone else's protests. He walked over to the two, who looked at him in surprise. "This is just getting stupid. Daphne, Apollo has been missing you for all these centuries, hoping you would come back, and he still loves you. Apollo, Daphne turned herself into a tree hoping that you would be able move on, even though you never did. Now she's back to normal, and you two can get back together. Now with that on your minds, talk." Nico took out a chair, and sat down putting his feet on the table.

The two looked to him, surprised at his blunt attitude. Daphne laughed lightly. "Who knew the children of Pluto had become so bold." Apollo opened his mouth to speak, but Daphne interrupted him. "Please, let me speak, first Apollo." She took a deep breath. "Apollo, I, when Eros shot me with his arrow, I said, things I shouldn't have said. I was mean, and I acted like a jerk. But, but now that I was freed from the spell, I remember the feelings that I had for you. I know, words cannot ever make you forgive me, for, everything I did, but..."

Daphne didn't get to finish. Apollo stood up, pushing aside the table. He took two steps towards Daphne, grabbed her hand, and lifting her to her feet, and pulled her against him, pressing her lips to his. He held her tightly, before finally breaking the kiss for breath. Then he hugged Daphne to him, holding her tightly.

"You have no reason to be sorry." Apollo said. "All of it, it was all my fault, I'm sorry." Daphne wrapped her arms around him, tears falling down her cheeks. He held her there as she cried. "It's been two thousand years." Apollo said slowly. Daphne nodded. "I missed you."

Daphne grinned against his shoulder. "I missed you too."

Later on, Nico, Hazel, and Frank, were sitting on a bench overlooking a lake, eating ice-cream. Apollo had brought back Daphne to his home. In order for helping Apollo find Daphne, Eros and Apollo forgave Nico for his, pranks. Diana also gave Hazel a small moon necklace, saying that she if she was ever needed help, all you need to show it to her hunters, and they would help her. The gods had left to return to Olympus, bringing along Daphne.

"Hey Nico." Hazel asked. "Why were you so intent on getting them back together?"

Nico starred at the Ice-cream. "You said the story was depressing you, and what kind of brother would I be if I let my sister be upset on her birthday?" Nico looked up and smiled at his sister. "Happy birthday Hazel."

Hazel grinned, and hugged her brother. "Thank you, that's a great birthday present." She kissed him on the cheek.

Frank frowned. "Um excuse me, don't I get a kiss?" Frank protested. Hazel laughed, then hugged him, and kissed him on the cheek as well. Frank grinned at her, looking probably happier than he should have.

Hazel smiled, then turned back to the lake, watching the sunset. "We should probably get going, camp Jupiter only gave us till night outside of camp or else we're screwed."

Nico grinned. "Sure I'll give you a ride."

**I took a long time on this story; I had to re-write it a few times, nothing really sitting right. I'm still not super happy with the results, but I hope you liked it! **


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